BEING A SLAVE V.S.BEING A SERVANT

Did you know that people are either servants or slaves? This may sound strange, but it is true. This is actually a biblical and quranic concept. The entire idea is that either one is a slave to the world, or some would say to the devil, or one is a servant of a higher deity. This is the basic idea of the servant or the slave. This article explores the idea in more detail.

DEFINITIONS

Let us begin with basic definitions in order to properly distinguish servant-hood from slavery.

A servant is a person who voluntarily and willingly enters into servitude or service to another, usually in a partial manner. This means that the person will not give his or her life for the master, for example, but will give time, labor, money or other things.

A slave is a person who involuntarily enters into servitude or service to another, usually in a total way. It may occur consciously, as by violence or force of some kind, or unconsciously, as by brainwashing, hypnosis, false beliefs or some other method of mind control.

Related words to servant: one in service, employee, worker, light-worker, warrior, zealot, truth-seeker, covenant-keeper, god-fearing, born-again, disciple, apostle, prophet, church-goer, witness, one who is saved or forgiven or testifies, one who is repented, a child of God, a thoughtful one, one who has found.

Related words to slave: prisoner, forced worker, one who is captured or controlled by another, or a state of bondage.

Another way to understand this concept is that human beings are never really their own power source or master. They are more like railroad freight cars that have to hook up to a locomotive for power and movement. Sadly, most people do not realize this. They believe they are their own bosses, so to speak, and that they run their lives. However, the spiritual perspective is that this is never true!

HE WHO OWNS THE DEBTS, OWNS THE PEOPLE

Instead, each of us is tied to a power source outside of ourselves, whether we realize it or not. And the only choice is not whether to hook up or not, but which power source will you choose.

THE POWER SOURCE YOU CHOOSE HAS CONSEQUENCES

This should be obvious. The master of your life will take you in a certain direction. Many, or perhaps most people do not move in healthy directions. Instead, they move in directions that lead to illness, poverty, immorality and an early death for themselves and those around them. This is unfortunate, but is the fact of the matter. I am reminded of a biblical quote, that “the blind lead the blind in ways of death”.

However, another option is open to all human beings of all religions and races. That option is for a long, healthy, joyful and abundant life. This is the life of the servant referred to in this article. It is not a fiction or a fantasy.

QUALITIES OF SERVANT-HOOD

Non-violent or less violent. As understood in this article, servant-hood is inherently less violent because the person enters into it and remains in it willingly or voluntarily. In other words, there is no compulsion, as there is with slavery.

Less ego-building. Being a true servant requires that one subordinate the ego to the high self or higher will. This is not the same as getting rid of the ego, which occurs with drug use, for example, or during sex. Be very clear about this. The servant still has an ego, but it is sublimated or subordinated to something higher that directs it.

One might think that slavery sublimates or even destroys the ego, as well, but it is not so. A slave can still have a huge ego. It is just forcibly suppressed temporarily, however.As soon as the slavery ends, the ego self reasserts itself. This is why in nations ruled with an iron fist by dictators and strong men, when the dictator’s power wanes, the mobs become furious and often violent.Chaos often rules for a while.

Whereas, if one has a large ego, one would not tend to choose to be a servant. And when the servant’s leader or master is away, a good servant continues to be a servant because the ego is not just temporarily suppressed, but rather it is subordinated to a higher cause.

More etheric and less physical. This is subtle, but being a servant has more to do with soul development and etheric development than does slavery, which is usually more physical in nature.

Balance and development. As a result of the above, servant-hood tends to balance the body and mind, and lead to its development and evolution beyond even what most people can imagine.

Freedom. Oddly, it leads to a type of freedom, and is the only way to move toward true freedom in this third dimensional world we live in. This is because servant-hood or voluntary servitude to a higher deity moves one away from unconscious and thus involuntary slavery, which is the opposite of freedom. Please contemplate this carefully, as it is a little subtle.

Joy. Servant-hood leads to a type of joy, as opposed to pleasure. Pleasure is defined as a temporary feeling in the physical body. Joy is defined as a feeling of pleasure that occurs when one assists others to be happy or healthy or abundant in some way. Joy may also be defined as a state of mind in which one feels at one with the creator, at peace with the world, and “in the flow” of life in a deep way. These are all qualities of servant-hood, as it is defined in this article.

Love. Servant-hood is about love, at a certain level. The servant must love his master, as he is not required to remain with him or her.Usually, the servant must also love himself or herself. Otherwise, it is hard to truly love another.

If a servant does not love his master, but merely serves out of fear of job loss, poverty, illness, loneliness or some other faulty motive, then the person is not really a servant, but is more of a slave.

Republican government and free market capitalism. Servant-hood is associated with economic and political freedom. In modern times, this means a true republican form of government and a capitalist economy. These systems depend upon voluntary compliance with legal and moral standards, and they reward effort and service to others.

Upper energy centers. Servant-hood is more about developing the upper energy centers on the human and etheric bodies, numbers 8 through 14.

QUALITIES OF SLAVERY

These tend to be the opposite of the qualities of servant-hood described above. Slavery is always violent to some degree, and held in place with violence. It always builds fear, anger and resentment. It is far more physically oriented, and does not tend to cause as much balance and development of a human being.

Slavery is always associated with bondage, not freedom, and leads to hatred, not joy.

In political terms, slavery is associated with monarchy, dictatorship,and to a somewhat lesser degree with socialism, communism and social democracy.These systems of government allow oral freedom, but do not permit economic, political or religious freedom, or even free speech and a free press. Instead, they are top-down, command and control economic and political systems that dominate most of planet earth.

Lower energy centers. Slavery usually has more to do with the lower energy centers, numbers 1 through 3 in particular, and a little of 4 through 6. This is important because the upper energy centers must develop for a human being to evolve properly.

ALL ARE BORN AS SLAVES, UNTIL THEY CHOOSE TO BE SERVANTS OF THE GREATER DEITY

In other words, human beings have the ability to decide their master. They do not have the ability to “run their own show”,as the humanists and liberals believe. However, they can wake up and choose a new master consciously, in which case they now become servants of Allah or of the higher self or the holy spirit and Jesus, for example.

This is tricky, however, because the human ego wants to believe it is serving God, at times, when it is not. Many people do horrible things “in the name of” God, Jesus, Buddha, Allah or some other divine figure. So one must be very careful when one says one is a servant. The problem basically is that the dark side can easily impersonate the divine being, even an angel, and this is a case of hypnosis or brain washing that confuses the person and leads to horrible behavior such asmurdering others in the name of Jesus, God or Allah, for example. In this case, I would say that the person is not really a servant, but is still a slave,but does not realize it.

WHY SEEMING SLAVERY TO A PARENT, OR ANOTHER PERSON, OR TO THE GOVERNMENT, OR TO A JOB, CAN BE BENEFICIAL AS SPIRITUAL TRAINING

The simple answer to this question is that following the dictates of a parent, or even the government, is not really slavery to a large degree. It is a form of servant-hood, so it actually builds confidence and develops a person in a good way.

There is a fine line, however. If the parent or the government or teacher becomes violent, threatens the person or actually harms the person in some way, then servant-hood turns quickly to slavery and the experience is usually not as beneficial.

For example, there are people who, when thrown in jail for years, come out healed and spiritually advanced. However, they are few. Most find the prison experience too slave-like and their anger and resentment just festers under temporary restraint until they are released, at which time they continue a life of crime.

OTHER, MORE SUBTLE TYPES OF SLAVERY

DRUG ADDICTION IS SLAVERYDrugs and alcohol use, like servant-hood and slavery, can cause a loss of mental control. However, it is very different. While servant-hood causes loss of ego control by sublimating the ego to something greater, and slavery causes loss of ego control by violence or compulsion of some kind,drugs cause it by impairing brain functioning.This is very different and harmful in the extreme in almost all cases.

Drugs usually weaken the ego and weaken the ability to think. The person often feels like he is floating freely.Some love this experience and call it a high.Some, however, experience free-floating anxiety and other phenomena on certain psychedelic drugs and even marijuana that does not feel good,as one loses control due to a weakening of the mind.

If one likes the floating feeling, or ego loss that occurs with a drug or with alcohol, addiction often follows. In this case,the person has become a slave to alcohol or to their drug.Addiction, by definition, is no longer voluntary, and is violent and harmful.

Recovery, however, is like leaving a form of slavery that is self-imposed, but not exactly, and as former alcoholics and drug addicts know, it is often not easy to do. Among those that recover from the drug experience, many are still poisoned by it and the brain does not recover well, even with a nutritional balancing program, at least short term. So please be careful this way, including taking care to avoid parties and other placeswhere drugs are slipped into your drink or your food without your knowledge.

CO-DEPENDENCY CAN DEVELOP INTO A FORM OF SLAVERY

Co-dependency is another interesting type of slavery. It involves a relationship, usually with another person, but it could be with a pet, or perhaps with one’s job, location, car, house, television, movies or even with an ideology or thoughts or an emotion such as anger or fear.

In all cases, one has become dependent upon the relationship for one’s happiness to such a degreethat if it is taken away, one cannot function well.Usually, one is using the relationship with the person or object, perhaps, to deny reality or run away from something one does not like in oneself.

This is a curious form of slavery, but it is slavery nevertheless, as it becomes compulsory and a form of servitude that can control and ruin one’s entire life. Like other forms of slavery, it does not sublimate the ego, but actually allows the ego to flourish. And like all slavery,it always causes violence to the person.